Homeland Security secretary says arrests of people entering the United States illegally across the Mexican border plummeted in March 2017. That's a signal that fewer people are trying to sneak into the U.S. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Chris Ruddy, CEO of the conservative Newsmax media company, said the recent sharp decline in illegal immigrants crossing the border may eliminate the need for a physical "wall" that was promised by President Trump.

In an op-ed published Thursday by the New York Times, Ruddy, a Trump confidante, said that the president's hardline rhetoric in some policy areas may have shaken Democrats and some moderates of both parties, but that it has often rendered positive results.

"Mr. Trump has also used his White House platform to begin changing sclerotic domestic policies and politics," Ruddy wrote. "In shaking the tree, he is causing old leaves to fall even as healthy ones remain in place, still strong."

Trump's aggressive remarks on immigration, coupled with an increase in deportations, Ruddy said, may have also rendered one of the president's biggest campaign promises obsolete.

"The president's policies have created a virtual wall," he said, "one that may obviate the need for the $20 billion eyesore after all."

In recent weeks, the White House requested money from Congress that would go toward building the promised wall on the southern border, but Democrats said they would not pass a budget that included funding for it.

Instead, the House passed a budget with money to boost security at the border, angering many of Trump's biggest supporters in conservative media, including Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh.

The White House, however, has maintained that it will erect some type of barrier at the border and Trump has continued to publicly state that a wall will go up at some point in his term.